Chiller: Part Four: Melt Your Cold Cold Heart
by Gillen1962
Summary: An old threat arrives in town. Lucky and Soumia discuss an old friend. Carly and Alexis girl talk their lives. Jason tries a feta cheeseburger and sweet potato fries and Mac and the PCPD consider if they have a serial killer on their hands. Dillon plays pool and meets with Roy Ward.


_Chiller: Part Four: Melt Your Cold Cold Heart._

"Truthfully, there is little more I can do for her." Dr. Liesel Obrecht said to Alexandria Quartermaine. "She is not unhealthy and memory transfer is not my area of expertise."

Alexandria looked down at the sleeping Jennifer Hutchinson. She cared not at all if the girl lived or died as long as she got the information she needed before her death. So, Liesel's comments on her health were not of a concern.

And as much as Alexandria hated to admit that Obrecht was right, she was correct in saying that this was beyond her. Dr. Cabot was due to arrive later that morning and he would take over. Still Alexandria was loathe to let Liesel off the hook.

Obrecht read her mind. "If there was anything else, I could do for you, in this matter, I would stay, as is I am a liability, the longer and more frequently I come here the more likely some one will connect me to you."

"And what would I care Liesel?"

"If I am associated with you, then Anna Devane will come to me."

"And?"

"And she will use and manipulate my daughter once again to do so. I will no longer have Britta used as a pawn, nor will I have Nina or baby James become ones."

Alexandria stepped back and glared at her. "Are you threatening me Liesel?"

Obrecht scoffed. "Do not speak to me as If I am one of your lackeys. I unfroze you and the child and I will freeze you again and return the child to her family."

"You would not dare."

Liesel Obrecht smiled with an evil that matched Alexandria's "Do not try me then." She turned and gathered her medical bag.

As she walked away, she stopped and turned around. Alexandria had her hand in the pocket of her coat. "And before you shoot me in the back, consider that I am no fool. If I were to die or disappear the information that I have would be released to all interested parties within twenty-four hours."

Alexandria slowly took her hand from her pocket and nodded. "Then for now."

"Forever. I wish you neither harm nor well."

Alexandria fumed. She wondered if the Ice Princess formula could be reversed to cause extreme heat. Because freezing was far too good for that bitch.

"Absolutely Not." Lucky said as he flopped down on the couch.

"She is the best person for the assignment." Soumia answered flatly.

Lucky shook his head. "I do not care if she is the best person for the job. I don't care if she is the only person for the job. I don't care is she is the last human being on the planet earth. I will not work with her again."

"You are behaving like a child." Soumia snapped.

Nisida had come out of her room at the noise and stood at the top of the stairs.

"I could care less. Hell, I will sit right here on the couch and hold my breathe if that is what it takes to not have Hajar in the middle of this."

"She made one mistake." Soumia said. "it is not like you have never made mistakes."

"Talking to Rocks is a mistake Soumia." Lucky said exasperated. "Exposing me to the Mutaween as a Non-Muslim in the middle of the Holiest City in Islam is an attempt to get me beheaded, start and international incident and ignite World War III."

"You're exaggerating"

"Really was it your head that the sword was hovering over!" snapped Lucky.

"Please Stop" Nisida cried coming down the stairs and hugging Soumia. "Please don't fight."

Soumia hugged the girl and looked over at Lucky raising her eyebrows.

Dillon looked around the Floating Rib and motioned his camera man towards the pool table. He yelled over his shoulder to Felicia Scorpio who was behind the bar. "Felicia do you think that the Judge and I can play a game of pool while we film?"

He was here to pre-tape an interview with gubernatorial candidate Judge Roy Ward for a segment of Good Morning Port Charles

"Be my guest." She said. "Can I ask why you are taping this, this afternoon when you are going to broadcast live from here tomorrow morning."

"Judge Ward has campaign appearances all over Brooklyn tomorrow, this is the last time he will be here in the North West for at least a few weeks. "Dillon said. "We are not being too much trouble, are we?'

Felicia shook her head. "No, not at all. I am looking forward to the free publicity, the kick start you guys gave Kelly's was amazing."

"Yeah I am hoping we can do the same here without the messy kidnapping and revolution of course."

Felicia laughed. "Yes, let's not have any of that for a while."

Judge Ward and his staff came in and he smiled. "This place is so authentic."

Felicia walked over and held out her hand. "Thank you Judge, I'm Felicia Scorpio, the co-owner."

Roy shook her hand "The Commissioner's wife, how lovely to finally meet you."

"Same, Your Honor" Felicia said. "Can I get you or your staff anything?"

Roy looked at his crew and smiled. "I am going to want a coke, because as they will tell you in a moment, I drink far too much of it, and it is no good for my sugar levels. They will have coffee."

Felicia laughed. "Coming right up Sir."

Roy walked over to Dillon and gave him a hug. "My my young man, I think the last time I saw you; you were what eleven?"

"Just about" Dillon said smiling.

"I saw the work that you did during the Malkooth Crisis, it was excellent."

"Well thank you, a lot of that credit goes to my new co-anchor Lulu Falconeri"

Ward Nodded. "She was very good." He paused "So?"

Dillon smiled. "I thought we could rack them up and talk a bit."

The Judge Smiled and grabbed a pool cue.

Alexis Davis walked into the interrogation room of the PCPD and sat down across from Carly Corinthos. She smiled and said. "Carly."

Carly looked at her and nodded. "Alexis, thank you for coming."

"I thought about not coming to be honest. Diane and I swore not to have anything more to do with Sonny and the nonsense that swirls around him."

"Sonny has nothing to do with this." Carly said.

Alexis nodded. "Yes, right after you left your message Jax called me." She paused. "I still thought about not coming."

"Well thanks." Carly snapped.

"Carly, I came because Joss deserves better." Alexis said. "And because I think that you and I are in very much the same place right now."

"I'm handcuffed to this table; you can walk out."

"I meant in general" Alexis said.

"How?" Carly asked. "All I want is to find out who killed the poor girl who worked for me."

Alexis shook her head. "No all you want is for the world to be the way it was five months ago."

Mac Scorpio hated morgues He rationalized this by realizing that every sane person hated morgues. But there was nothing rational in his hatred of them, he had been a cop for nearly half his life, he had been to morgues far too many times, to have a hatred drawn from the same experiences as other people. His hatred of morgues stemmed from Georgie, his daughter and identifying her body. It stemmed from BJ and the cries of Felicia and Bobbie as her heart was transferred to Maxie. It stemmed from hearing of poor Tony resting his head on Maxie's chest to listen to his daughter's heartbeat.

His hatred of morgues was because death haunted him.

Now he watched as Dr. Clark Steinman the new Port Charles Medical Examiner and the Operating Director of the Morgue at General Hospital, pulled the sheet back off of Abby Kaine. He saw the sad looked at the faces of Detectives Harrison Chase and Valerie Spencer, he saw Chief Jordan Ashford turn her head ever so slightly. Good Mac thought, he never wanted people working for him who were not affected by the horrors they were forced to see.

"Do we have a cause of death Dr. Steinman?" He asked.

"Yes, and please call me Clark." The young doctor said. "She was strangled, bare hands. A male from the size of the grip. Average to below average height. You can see from the marks that he was not reaching down far but also not reaching up, the victim was five foot three and a half. I put the killer between five foot eight and five foot ten. Not quite six foot."

The Detectives nodded. Chase asked. "Sexual assault?'

"After death."

"Yuck" replied Valerie. "But it means we have DNA?"

"I am afraid not. Sexually Assaulted in this case does not mean rape."

"I have the feeling that I do not want to ask" Said Jordan.

"Smooth glass object. A bottle maybe or a …err…" For the first time the doctor looked awkward "A sex toy"

"After the victim was dead?" Mac asked again.

"Yes, and then the victim's clothing was very carefully returned to the proper place, or as best as could be on a deceased body."

"Is all of this matching the first girl Dara?" Chase asked.

"We did not do as an extensive examination with the first girl, but mostly yes."

"Anything else?" Mac asked feeling his stomach flip.

"Yes, she was beaten about the mouth."

"Before or after the death?" Jordan asked.

"After. And as near as I can tell after the sexual assault, though I cannot be 100% sure." Clark responded.

"Anything on her cell phone, Chief?" Mac asked Jordan.

"Typical stuff for a girl her age, there are a lot of contacts both phone and social media that we need to follow up with."

"And cross reference with Dara's phone? Chase asked.

Jordan nodded. "Yes."

Mac shook his head. "Okay, Jordan before you start chasing the internet connections, I need you with me to brief the DA and the Mayor. Other then those two the fact that we may right now have a serial killer does not leave this room."

"Shouldn't we alert the public?" Valerie asked.

Mac looked troubled "No, let's not tip off the killer that we may be looking at his pattern."

"But" Valerie objected. "The women of Port Charles deserve to know."

"I agree, with that as well" Said Mac. "I want you and Chase to do an sit down with Lulu or Dillon on Outback Media, Don't call it a serial killer but talk about two murders in two weeks and how we need every one to be careful and to be alert. Remind people to stay in pairs, not to accept rides from strangers the whole nine yards."

The Detectives nodded.

Mac looked at Steinman "Let us know if you find anything else. I especially want to hear about the tox screening. " He turned to Chase "And you have had Carly cooling her jets at the station house, we both know she didn't do this, and while I am favor of reminding her, Sonny and Jason that we have taken back our city, I need you doing real police work. Go back there and cut her loose."

Chase grumbled a "Yes Sir."

There were little things that people did not notice concerning Jason's brain injuries. One of the one's that he himself was aware of was a reluctance to try new foods. If anyone had bothered to watch him wat over the past twenty years since the accident, they would have noticed a bland diet. Developed because of a steadfast reluctancy to try new things.

So, as he sat at the counter at Kelly's and looked at the burger in front of him, he was, he had to admit a little afraid. He who had faced down gunmen, been in fight after fight, and had taken lives with his bare hands, was afraid of the Feta Cheese which had replaced the American Cheese on his Hamburger, worse his French fries were orange.

"Why are they Orange." He asked his current girlfriend Rovena, the manager of Kelly's.

"Sweet Potatoes"

"Yams?" Jason said.

"Similar. But not the same."

Jason kept glaring at his plate

"Oh, for God's sake Jason if I was going to kill you I would wait till you were a sleep."

Jason smiled and very slowly bit the top of one of the fries. He chewed slowly. "Hey not bad,"

"Now the burger, and you can have dessert." Rovena said smiling.

"And what is that?"

She leaned in and kissed him. "Hot Albanian body"

Jason smiled and took a big bite of the burger. "Okay, this is different. I can eat this."

Rovena smiled. She had learned over the past few months that Jason was one of the most intelligent and bravest men she had ever met but he was also on so many levels very simple. His world view was narrow and focused. She could see why he had been so easily manipulated by those around him for so many years.

Which she thought regret reminder her that there was a conversation that was necessary.

"Can I ask you something" She said as he took another bit of the burger.

"Sure."

"Carly?"

"What about her?"

"Why?" She asked. "I mean on some level I can understand Sonny, the same way as I understand why people like Nisida would work for Shehu. There is a security in their danger, a twisted stability in the power that they wield. They can make the world steady in their chaos. But Carly, what does she bring to the table?'

Jason took a sip of soda and looked at her. He had to think for a second which hurt his head, but he understood her point. "At first? Michael."

Rovena nodded. Jason's nephew and godson was extremely important to him. She waited for him to go on.

"When she left him with me. I" He stopped, and she realized he had never really thought about this before. He went on very slowly. "I began to think of him, as myself, not as mine, but as being in the same boat. The accident had just happened I was trying to separate myself from Jason Quartermaine and trying to be as far away from the Quartermaine's as I could. "

He stopped and ate some fries. "You need to understand, in those days, I saw the Q's as trying to force me into being something or some one I no longer was, and I never , I never stopped and considered that all that Alan and Monica and even Edward were trying to do was to bring back the boy they had loved all his life. I never considered their feelings in the matter."

"You were basically, newly born and all newborns are selfish little Fu…." Rovena stopped and reminded herself she was no longer in the Bronx "Selfish little creatures."

Jason smiled. "Yes. So, Carly left Michael with me, and somewhere in my head, in a place that existed but that I could not really utilize at the time I saw Michael as in the same boat. So, I kept him from the Q's by pretending he was mine. And then somehow. He did become mind. "

"And Carly came back."

"And Carly came back and she and then later Sonny were Michael's parents, but I was his protector and Sonny's world kept him in constant danger. Then came Kristina and Morgan, and my own Jake and Danny and some one needed to keep them safe from Sonny's world. And some how Carly and I became friends, she really cares about me."

"Does she?"

Jason was offended. "Yes."

Rovena shook her head unsure. "I had this friend in the Bronx, Farrah, Hispanic girl, we hung out together a lot. Good friend. One day she says to me that she wants to be a stand-up comic. There was only one problem"

"Which was?"

"This girl was not funny. Not even a little bit. You are funnier."

"I'm not funny."

"Exactly." Rovena said. "But you know what I did? I told her that I thought she may be making a mistake, and then when she said no, she was sure. I showed up at every comedy club she managed to get on stage at. I went to endless open mic nights. I sat through innumerable sets. I listened to her test materials, over and over again. Because she was my friend."

"And she made it as a comedian?"

"Hell, no she married a banker, lives in Akron. My point is that she is my friend, so I registered my objection and then I had her back." Rovena paused and looked at Jason. "Does Carly really do that for you?"

Peter August checked his laptop one more time before closing it. He had gotten a brief message from the girl he had been speaking to. But he wanted more. Across from him Maxie, his girl friend coughed. "Peter are you paying attention?"

He shook his head. "Yes, yes of course I am Maxie."

"I don't; like this new job of Lulu's?"

"Why not" He asked. He had long ago accepted that he was always going to play second fiddle to Lulu in Maxie's life. He wondered if his half-brother and Maxie's late husband had felt the same way or was this a thing between, he and her?

Peter sighed all he really wanted to do was talk with the girl again. "Why is that Maxie?"

"Well look who she will be working with day after day."

"Hayden?"

"No, why would that matter, Dillon."

Peter shook his head. "Why would that matter? He is a fine reporter."

"They have a history." Maxie said.

"Half this town has a history with the other half of the town. So what?"

Maxie shook her head, sometimes Peter was so dense when it came to human interaction that she was at a loss as to how to help him.

"Look" She said slowly. "I do not want to see Lulu hurt and the lest way to avoid that is for her to avoid someone like Dillon."

"Is he a bad guy?"

"No, he is a great guy, he was married to my sister, and then cheated on her with Lulu."

"So is this about protecting Lulu or disliking Dillon."

"In this case there is no difference."

"What I want is for everyone to begin to act normal again" Snapped Carly.

"Normal has shifted." Alexis said. "Look I am not sure I like it any more than you do. Sam is at loose ends, Kristina seems more and more dependent on her father and less and less in control of herself, and Molly is walking around like she is the second coming of Helena, but that is the reality of the world that we are now in Carly."

"Then help me fix it."

As soon as she answered. "How" Alexis knew that she was going to regret saying it.

"Well to begin we need to put Sam and Jason back together."

"Why?"

"Why" Carly looked "What is wrong with you they belong together"

"And we get to decide that? You get to decide that?'

"Someone has to look out for Jason's own good."

"He is not a child, Carly, he is a middle age man."

Carly shook her head. She had grown accustomed over the years of snowplowing her way into a conversation. She did not like to step back and have to explain.

"Yes, he is" She said. "But so often he is very naive when it comes to people."

"Really?" Alexis said. "I have both liked and disliked Jason but one of the things I have always given him credit for is that he is an excellent judge of people. The fact that he limits his emotions allows him to see things clearer than we do."

Carly sighed. This was not working. "Alexis, truthfully are you happy with things the way they are? "

Alexis sat back. "No Carly, I have made it pretty clear I am not. But maybe it is time for a change. I do not know about you but in so many ways I feel like I have been on the same hamster wheel for years. Nothing ever moved forward. We go back and forth to the same problems, the same jobs, Carly I have been District Attorney four times, I've been elected and appointed and everything in between, I think I woke up once and I was DA and don't remember how it happened.! We chase the same men, have the same problems with our children, how many times is Michael going to go out with a woman who is a liar before he gets off the wheel? Do you want life to be like that for him?"

"Of course not, that Is why I interfere, I want better for him and Joss and even Sonny and Jason."

"But the way we have been doing it, it never gets better." Alexis said. "I walked away from being a Cassadine nearly twenty years ago, and what did it get me? I went through all kind of changes, I disguised myself as a man, for Pete's sake, in order to keep Kristina away from Sonny, and now I just shrug off that she thinks he is a Superhero."

"Sonny is a good man Carly said defensively.

"That is not this discussion." Alexis said. "Listen to what I am trying to say not what you are trying to hear. You and I"

Alexis stopped. She looked at Carly. "How many times have you and Sonny been married and divorced?'

Carly shrugged. "Half a dozen."

"Why?"

"Why? We love each other." Carly said.

"But there have been whole swarths of time where you hated each other. Wanted to kill each other. Carly, he shot you in the head."

"That was an accident."

Alexis ignored her. "Carly is you love each other; you work it out. You don't run to my office and demand a divorce and then a year later get re-married. It's not normal! People may learn to love an ex as a friend but very few keep running back to the same person over and over again."

"I don't understand." Carly said sincerely.

Alexis ever the lawyer tried to think. She herself was confused about the way of the world right at this moment. She had spent a good part of the past twenty years running from being a Cassadine, now her daughter was embracing it whole hog, and Alexis could not deny the truth of some of what Valentin had said to her over the past few weeks.

"Carly, I am going to be sixty years old, next year. Sam is forty-three, Sonny is fifty-six, you and Jason will both be fifty. I know that it is hard to change at this point I do. But isn't time we got off the hamster wheel?"

"That is what I am trying to do Alexis." Carly said "I had a good life. Finally, after my terrible childhood, I had a good life. Yes, I lost a lot, Morgan, I lost Morgan, but I was respected, I was a member of society, I had influence and power."

"You had fear." Alexis said. "Most of the people you think respected you feared you because of Sonny."

"And you don't think the same applies to you? The mother of Sonny's daughter? The daughter of Mikkos Cassadine?"

Alexis nodded. "Yes. And I used that in the court room and in my life. But I never mistook it for being actually loved."

"Love is a commodity." Carly snapped.

Dr. Arthur Cabot looked at his patient and smiled. This experiment in pinpointing a memory was going far better than he had hoped. This was the first time that a memory had been successfully transferred with hypnotic suggestion and still without removing the memory from the original owner. Laura Collins still knew all that was loaded now into Jennifer Hutchinson head, but she shared those memories with the girl.

"Well?" Alexandria said impatiently.

"The last time she was awake, Mayor Collins memories had reached the point where she was on Cassadine Island. "Said Cabot. "When I wake her up, she will likely be at the point where I can hypnotize her and get the formula."

"Excellent." Alexandria said. "Do it."

"And then?" Cabot asked.

"Meaning?"

"Two things: Neither you nor I have the specific scientific skill to utilize the formula. It will simply be gibberish for us."

"I have that under control, or rather it will be under control" Alexandria said.

Cabot nodded.

"And what was the second Doctor?" Alexandria asked raising an eyebrow.

"Once you have the formula, what is to keep you from killing the girl, or for that matter me?"

Alexandria smiled. "Why nothing at all Doctor."

Dillon sank the shot and lined up his next one as he asked Roy Ward. "So, you honor, why run for Governor?" Dillon made sure that he walked near the judge so that his camera man would get them both in the shot. He chalked his cue and waited.

"That is a broad question, I think that first it comes from a family history of commitment to social justice. As you know my Grandmother Mary Mae was a well known community activist here in Port Charles, Our Uncle Bradley was a leader in the civil rights movement and even my cousin Justus tried his best in his short life to advance social equality."

"And do you think that social equality is the hinge pin of your campaign for governor?"

"I think, Dillon, that it is the pivot point in all of history and all of government. We form societies in order to work together for the greater good. We choose to live together under a set of rules to benefit all. But somehow over time, there arises a class of members of society who feel that they are somehow more privileged, more worthy of the rewards of society."

"And" Dillon asked. "You do not feel that way?"

"I believe that All men are created equal. That there is nothing in the whiteness of your skin that makes you less than me, or in the brownness of mine that makes me less than you. Society benefits when all in the society are uplifted."

Dillon sank another shot and then asked. "That is a fine sentiment Judge, but your opponent Charlie Holt and his New Wave Party, say that what you are trying to do is change the very fabric of what we are as a society. "

"And they are right."

Dillon was a little surprised by that answer. "Really?"

"Of course, what politician worth their salt, isn't trying to change who we are at our core, who isn't trying to draw us to what we believe are our better angels. Look Ronald Regan wanted a bright shining city on a hill. Jack Kennedy asked us what we could do for our Country, His brother Bobby and Dr. King fought for us all to be equal, Lincoln went to war for the same thing. Great leaders pull us forward."

"And then why New York?"

"Because we are a great state, because we can be a leader. Look here in the west, your Grandfather could have built his empire in Long Island, he could have played it safe and parked ELQ in the middle of New York City. Instead, even though he was a great capitalist even though he was a titan of industry, he also said I am going to go someplace where the jobs I create will have meaning where they will make a difference."

Dillon nodded. "And is that what you are looking to do? Make a difference?"

The door to the Floating Rib opened and three members of the Quantrill Raider's biker gang walked in, the largest of them, a good half foot taller than Dillon smiled and said. "Nah, Ward don't want to make a difference, He just wants help his people ride up? Ain't that right Judge?"

Peter looked at Maxie sadly. "Do you think maybe at some point you need to let Lulu make her own choices, make her own mistakes."

"She is my friend."

"Then be her friend and support her choices, not foist your own upon her."

"Is that what you think I am doing?"

Peter held up his hand. "All I am saying is that maybe, as a friend you should just step back. Look let's grab some dinner and then spend the night talking about anything but Lulu."

"You are not understanding." Maxie snapped.

"I am understanding that you don't like Dillon because he cheated on your sister, the fact that he did so with Lulu, not withstanding and that if by some fluke Lulu ended up with Dillon you would see it as validation of that cheating."

"Howe dare you!" Maxie said. "I will see you later."

Before Peter could object Maxie got up and stormed out.

He sat for a moment and sighed. Then he opened up his laptop and logged in hoping the girl he had chatted with would be online.

"Carly always has my back." Jason said smiling at Rovena.

"Does she?"

He bit into the burger again. He was getting annoyed; he did not like to be annoyed. "Yes, sure."

"Take me out of the picture for a second. You and Samantha have decided to move on from your relationship. You both seem to have adjusted to that, I don't see either you or her walking around looking sad or forlorn. You are doing an excellent job co-parenting your Son, who seems to have adjusted to the idea that the two of you are no longer a couple but are still his parents."

'We are trying yes. And yes, Sam seems as adjusted to this as I am, I saw her yesterday having lunch with Connor Olivera, they did not see me, but even across the street I could see her smile."

"See, and you smile too right?"

"Because of you."

"No, because of the choices you have made." Rovena said. "But thank you that was cute. "

Jason nodded. "So, what does this have to do with Carly?"

"Well if she really had your back, wouldn't she stop and see that you and Sam and Danny are all happy?"

Jason nodded. "Carly does not like change."

"So, this is not about friendship. It is about control."

"Sonny and Carly were the people who when I was first hurt were the ones who did not want to control me."

"Really?" Rovena asked. "I think that is something you should spend some time thinking about Jason, because from my outsiders' point of view, it is all about controlling you."

"Love is a commodity?" Alexis said.

"Yes. You don't understand, people who love you will betray you like Frank Benson did me, they will leave you, they will hurt you unless you hold them as close as possible."

"If you hold love too close Carly it suffocates"

"If you do not hold it close it leaves." Carly said

The door to the interview room opened and Harrison Chase stepped in. He walked over and uncuffed Carly. "You are free to go."

"It is about time." Carly snapped. "I will have your badge."

Alexis stood up and took Carly by the arm. "What Carly means is thank you Detective."

Carly pulled away and stormed out. Alexis stood and watched her go. How she thought was she any different then Carly, was she holding both Kristina and Molly too close. Was she allowing fear of losing Kristina keep her from guiding the girl in the right direction? Was she letting her fear of Valentin, her dislike of the man, drive Molly away?

Chase looked at her. "Are you okay Alexis?"

"Yes Detective" She said. "I am I just have a lot on my mind."

"So perhaps Ambassador I should not extract the formula from the girl. Thereby insuring your need of me."

"I could still kill you Cabot and simply Kidnapped Soumia Al-Fayheed again, she will be very cooperative if she thinks it means this girls life."

Cabot grinned. "She is not nearly as skilled as I am"

"Maybe, shall we find out" Alexandria stood and watched Cabot squirm.

"Do your job doctor, for now I will need you both alive, if there is one letter or dot wrong the formula will not work and memory is a tricky thing, Jennifer is a well I may need to return to, and you are ,my bucket boy."

Cabot snarled. "I will do my job. But any formula will be useless to you, you need someone to interpret that formula."

"And as I said that is being taken care of. "

"And how will you keep Anna Devane and her merry band from interfering have you thought of that?"

Alexandria laughed out loud. "Oh Doctor, you so underestimate me. I think of everything."

Nisida sat between Lucky and Soumia on the couch in their living room. "Honey we are not fighting, not really." Soumia said softly. The girl was sobbing a little and the tears that rolled down her face were noticeable.

"But you were raising your voices."

"That is because Lucky does not listen well to things not made of stone."

Lucky laughed. "Rocks don't 'talk back, well mostly they don't." He put his arm around Nisida. "Nisida, people who love each other are allowed to disagree, and since Soumia and I also work together those disagreements happen more often. "

"But if you fight, you'll leave. I've listened to people. You have done it before." Nisida said.

Lucky nodded. "Yes, I have. I ran like a coward. "

Soumia shook her head. "You were never a coward, love."

"Yes, I was." Lucky said. "Here is the truth Nisida, I did run away from my problems, either by leaving town or taking drugs. I ducked and dodged every single bit of responsibility I ever had. I was a bad son, a bad friend, a bad husband and a bad father. "

The girl looked at him She had never heard a man admit so much fault.

"And then, I found a job I was suited for. I remembered what good friends I always had. I made peace with my parents. And I found Soumia."

"But you were fighting, over a woman. I heard her name."

"Okay hold up a second. Let me finish. Soumia and I work for an international law enforcement agency. I can't promise that there will not come a day that for your safety, or my boys, or my Mom's that Soumia and I will not need to pack up and go. But I can promise that I will always take her with me and that if you want to come, we will take you too."

"But this woman."

"Is my friend Hajar." Soumia said. "She is a brilliant physicist, who knows more about weather, and astronomy and chemicals then nearly any one alive."

"She is also a devious witch who nearly got me beheaded." Lucky said flatly.

"See you two disagree about her."

Soumia smiled. "Oh, no I agree with Lucky and he with me. Hajar is both what he says and what I say, the question is whether we need her help or not."

"And "Lucky said. "I can assure you that Soumia will win this round because Anna will take her side. But that does not matter, I need you to understand that we, you and Soumia and I are a family. I am never ever leaving Soumia, and despite her better judgement She is never leaving me."

Soumia took Nisida in her arms. "And neither one of us is ever leaving you."

"Unless Hajar gets me beheaded this time." Lucky said as he hugged both women.

"I'll hook your head to the house A.I. " Said Soumia

"Yuck that would be creepy" said Nisida as she rested her head on Lucky's shoulder.

"Especially if she starts to date again" He added.

Kevin Collins shuffled the paperwork on his desk and sat back in his chair. He was exhausted and closed his eyes briefly. The knock on the door startled him and he popped up and said. "Come in."

A man in his late middle age, with red hair turning the pale gray of an old man entered the room. "Excuse me Doctor Collins, I believe that Dr. Hightower at the Sanatorium in London called about my trip thought Port Charles. I was given firm marching order to come here first and then ask you to accompany me to the Police Station so I may check in."

Kevin had expected a thicker British accent after all the man had been institutionalized there for nearly three decades.

Kevin stood up and extended his hand. "Yes, I was very pleased to hear of your progress from Dr. Hightower, and it is good to finally meet you in person Mr. Putman."

"Please call me Grant."


End file.
